


Wien

by Shulik



Category: Cinderella - All Media Types, Criminal Cinderella AU
Genre: F/M, Siblings, Swearing, Unconventional Families, assholes falling in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-23
Updated: 2013-12-23
Packaged: 2018-01-05 17:29:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1096581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shulik/pseuds/Shulik
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An  unstoppable force meets an immovable object. Or a criminal's love story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wien

**Author's Note:**

  * For [who_la_hoop](https://archiveofourown.org/users/who_la_hoop/gifts).



"We're going to steal the crown back from the Kangs," said Jay before draping himself over the entryway, a bottle of Corona hanging loosely from his fingertips. 

El didn't lift her head from where she was buried in the engine, the smell of oil and car surrounding her in a comfortable halo of childhood memories. They'd grown up in this garage, had grown up running around with the rest of the neighborhood kids, not a care in the world, their pop keeping an eye on them from where he'd deal with the men who'd visit the shop. 

Jay continued, "I mean it, this can't go on. We're losing clients, our reputation's getting blown to shit and worst of all- it's because we're losing to a pair of pansy ass foreigners."

El resurfaced frowning, "when'd you start caring about that?" 

Her brother's skin flushed a dark bronze colour, he ducked his head "I don't, you know that. It's just that, hell, nobody knows anything about these guys- nothing, they're ghosts. And they're slowly taking over our corner of LA. And it bothers me, it really does."

"That's kind of shitty," El slowly wiped the grease of her hands, moving the rag in unhurried movements.

"What is?"

"They're not better than us just cause they're British- Jay," El said reasonably, "they're better than us cause they've grown up doing this." There was a reason why the Kang brothers were considered the royalty of their profession. Born into old money, they'd started boosting cars as a hobby when they were teenagers but like most things that were unfair as hell in the world- they quickly became legends at what they did. 

It wasn't like their situation at all, nothing like El crying every night when they were thirteen, the only escape out of their house- the race tracks, Jay following her with a black eye every night for two weeks, hands shaking and rage burning him from the inside. 

Jay looked away. 

"But you're right, we're losing business and that can't go on," El dumped the rag and picked up the bottle of Bud that he'd placed on the table. She took a swig and grinned, "I mean, I'm not going to let a couple of fancy English assholes shaft us from our rightful place in LA." 

 

+

 

It turned out that when Jay wanted to lead his big sister into what was probably a suicide mission, he meant that they'd have to pretend to be the Kangs' new butler and maid. 

"Are you kidding me right now?" El's eyebrows were raised so high, she could feel them attempting to climb into her hairline. 

Jay made a face but shook the maid's outfit a little harder in her direction. "I know, ok, I know," he said emphatically, "but we need to make sure that we don't have any problems with this, and most guys won't bother to look too closely at your face if you're wearing this outfit."

That was probably true, El thought and felt queasy at the idea of wearing something this revealing and then she thought about the Kangs, the cars that they drove to the races, and the stacks of money that they'd been leaving with. It had never been about the money for the Kang brothers, they'd boosted the crown for the sheer pleasure and the risk involved, something to prove to the world that they weren't just a pair of overpaid thieves that came from money. God, she hated the overprivileged assholes.

The crown, Lamborghini's latest variation of the Veneno model- so secret that even the Arab Sheik who had contacted them was surprised to learn of the car's existence, only three had been made in the world. It was currently considered the most expensive car in the world. One was owned by a militia leader somewhere in Africa, one by a Russian magnate and the North American version had been stolen from under their noses by the Kangs. 

"I mean, we're only going to be there for a day-" said Jay and thrust the costume out at El, "just try not to murder anyone, put your hair up and try to look like a girl."

"I am a girl," El growled and grabbed the costume from her brother's hands. 

"That's the spirit," Jay said encouragingly.

 

+

 

She felt like an idiot, standing in front of the sprawling mansion, wearing what was basically a French maid's costume, a long wig, face full of makeup and bare legs freezing in the late autumn air. But she looked nothing like herself and that was the most important thing. 

El wrang the doorbell again. 

Somewhere in the back of the house, her brother was trying to find the keys to the garage while trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. Hell, did he even know what a butler did? For that matter, did El?

She was just trying to figure out what exactly buttling entailed when the door swung open, and a tall, suit wearing asshole raised a judgemental eyebrow at her. 

El flushed hotly and shifted in place. Her hands were itching to do some kind of violence and she could picture exactly how much the guy in front of her would hate to be dirtied if she threw him into her garage. Or into a river bank, right after she strangled him with her bare hands. Sometimes, El remembered her old school teacher's words about her overreacting to people's judgements. 

"Yes?" he said, raising an eyebrow before leaning against his door. 

El bit the inside of her cheek before replying, "I'm here about the advertisement for the maid position."

The asshole gave her a long, evaluating stare, pausing meaningfully around her chest area. "You're taking the whole maid thing kind of seriously, no?" his lips curled into a sneer. 

El was already taking a step forward to punch him in the throat when Jay materialized like a magic genie, called forward by the threat of violence. 

"Sir," Jay said respectfully, inclining his head in the suit's vague direction- "I can call for a replacement maid tomorrow, but for now- we need help in the kitchens." He kept his head down and waited for an answer, the lying asshole who was going to say goodbye to the Porsche Spyder sitting prettily in his own garage for the indignities that El was suffering for the greater good over here. 

"That's fine," the suit said before shooting another bored, assessing look at El's half-naked body, "she'll do." He gave Jay a nod before disappearing into the bowels of his house. 

El stared at his retreating back, thought about throwing herself after him and punching him bloody and then jerked roughly as her brother manhandled her out of the doorway and into the shadowy alcove. 

"Stop thinking about castrating him," he hissed and then looked shiftily around them. 

El narrowed her eyes, "actually I was thinking about good old-fashioned murder." She bared her teeth, "I wouldn't want to touch him enough to castrate him." 

Jay gave her a weird look, "alright, look I get it, he's a dick, but we need him."

El cocked her head, "why? It's the Kangs we're after, isn't it? They'll know where the car is."

Jay nodded, "yeah, but he's like their older cousin or something- he looks after their business while they're out of town. He's our best chance of getting the crown back and we won't even have to deal with the brothers." 

"How do you know all this?" 

Jay looked like he'd swallowed a live snail- "amemberoftheirstafftoldme"

"What?" 

"I talked to this guy," Jay looked at the floor, the tips of his ears flushing a dull, brick red. "He's worked for the Kangs for years, he says that Han is a dick- but he's loyal to them, so he's probably our best chance at getting at the car."

The usual Veneno caught about four and a half mil on the market. A limited edition would bring in at least twice that, El thought about the price tag on the car and then thought about having to tolerate a rich, self important asshole for longer than those five minutes and promptly wanted to disappear back through the door. 

"Besides," Jay said brightly, "Han couldn't have been that bad, could he? I mean, you guys only talked for like five minutes- so what could have been so bad about it?"

On the other hand, her brother was an idiot and if she had to spend the next day trying to get close to that stuck up asshole in the suit- El was bound to kill either one of them. At this point, it was really a toss up between the two.

"I'm taking your Porsche," El said meanly and pushed past her brother's frame, "and then I'm going to chop it for parts."

She headed towards the back of the house. 

"That's just uncalled for," Jay called after her, "that's rude. You're being hostile."

 

+

 

El was trying not to feel like something straight out of an eighties porno and failing miserably. Currently perched on top of a stepladder, she was dusting the tops of the library bookshelves, while trying to hold on to the hem of her dress with miserable results. At least whoever had filled the library shelves had good taste in books. 

They probably hired someone to do that too, El thought vengefully and continued working, a small dust hurricane gathering speed around her. She was doing more damage than actual cleaning, El thought, moving the dust around to settle straight on the books instead of cleaning the shelves and then worked harder to mess things up. 

"Is this your first job?" a familiar, snide voice interrupted her increasingly vicious swipes and El jolted, almost falling before a pair of strong arms caught her. 

He was wearing glasses, El thought dumbly, expensive gold frames that framed his dark brown eyes and El shivered at the look in them. Cold and assessing, he looked at her like she was a piece of dirt that he'd somehow managed to step on and was now curious about. 

"No," El said slowly before looking down at where his arms were still entwined around her legs, "but maybe I'm your first employee, or this household's gone a real long time with no sexual harassment seminars."

"What?" his lips curled into what a normal person would have called a confused frown, but on him- it just looked like a smirk, vicious and deliberate. The bastard knew exactly what he was doing. 

"Take your hands off me," El said slowly, putting weight behind her words-"before I break them."

"Are you sure?" his eyes looked angry behind his glasses, mean and cold. "Isn't this what you came here for? I'm sure that whoever sent you wouldn't be too pleased that you're not making friends." He looked down at her ankle, at where the thin, inky lines of her tattoo stood stark against her skin. "What does that mean?" 

El took a deep breath, "none of your business. Now listen, asshole- I'm sure that you think you're some kind of big tough guy, pushing a girl around, but to me? You're nothing but a small dicked moron who's gotten a big head from riding on his rich relatives' coattails and now needs to be taken down a couple of notches. I'd stand and laugh, but I'm sure as hell not going to do it." 

Quick surprise, followed by amusement and then his features settled back into that bored, smug, and insufferably superior look that he'd had when they first met. 

"You sure about that?" his lips quirked. 

"Take your goddamn hands off me," El said, ignoring his question. 

"Or? I mean, all this shit has to be deliberate- you're coming to my house, dressed like that, right around the time we get a brand new butler. You know exactly what you're doing and I'm thinking that the little boy down in the kitchen is right in it with you," he said and leaned closer. His face was so close to her, she could feel his breaths on her upper thighs, could see the faint scar disappearing into his temple, the small blue vein pulsing at his throat. He swallowed and turned his head, slightly, a minute movement that brought him even closer. 

El tensed before twisting, throwing her palm up she hit the bridge of his nose and then followed up with a quick punch to his solar plexus. 

He howled before dropping her and El quickly rolled away, stopping in a crouch at the look of pure fury on his face as he struggled to catch his breath. Her hair had fallen out of it's elaborate updo and she was sweating. Her skin felt like it had been branded, her thighs burning from the feeling of his face so close to her. 

One of her shoes was still clutched in his hands. He was leaning against a bookshelf, slowly getting his breath back, shock and surprise written plainly on his handsome face. 

The air between them felt sticky, crackling with something unfinished and El felt like she'd never get her breath back. 

"Go fuck yourself," she snarled and then ran like hell. 

 

+

 

"I don't understand what happened," Jay was looking spooked in the front seat of the car. 

He had barely had time to take a breath before she had grabbed him away from the shaggy haired guy in the kitchen, dragging him behind her as they made their way to the Kangs' main floor garage. The Veneno wasn't there, but then again- El didn't really expect that they'd find it anyway, though she still found a Porsche there to her liking. Years of misspent youth and a beautiful little black gadget that would open up the legs of any beauty to her, and they were driving out of there like they were being pursued by the devil himself. 

"Nothing happened," El grunted and took a right turn, hard, throwing Jay into the window from the force. "We're going to let them have it."

"What?" Jay squawked, " did you lose your goddamn mind?"

"They know," El bit her lip before sliding into a back alley that she knew would lead them out to the warehouse district, "they knew that someone would be breaking in, trying to steal from them." 

There was silence in the car, El's steady breathing and Jay staring at her like she had just told him she'd lost her mind for real. 

"Are you sure?" Jay finally asked. 

"Listen," El looked at him, driving in the darkness, " you're the only family I have left. I'm not about to piss off the most powerful assholes this side of the border just because me and you feel threatened." She swallowed past the lump in her throat, "their people aren't like me and you, we're going to be fine swimming with the small fish. These people are willing to do the shit me and you won't touch, won't even think about in order to make it big. I don't know about you, but there are lines I'm not willing to cross- and that car's not worth them."

"You're my brother," El said firmly, staring at her hands on the steering wheel, "I'm not willing to lose you even if it means I gain the world."

Jay looked pale, ghostly, illuminated by the car's headlights with the inky blackness pressing at them from the outside. 

"Alright," Jay nodded, pale and scared, "alright."

 

+

 

She had tried to look him up afterwards, sitting in the darkness of her apartment- a joint lit between her lips. Her laptop glowed bright and accusing in front of her. Her wet hair lay in ringlets, soaking into her tank. Her skin still felt overheated. 

El's hands were still shaking and she'd stood beneath her shower, turning it colder and colder, gritting her teeth as she remembered the feeling of his hot breath against the skin of her inner thigh. His fingers were long, knuckles slightly bony as he'd wrapped them around her. He had taken his jacket off when he'd surprised her in the library, the sleeves of his white shirt had been rolled up and El thought about his forearms, the flexing of his joints as she had threatened him and the brief quirk of his lips as she had tried to insult him.

El groaned into the cold spray of the shower, ducking her head beneath the cold running water but even that was doing nothing for her.

Sitting in front of her laptop, an empty google search bar open in front of her - El felt pathetic. And still turned on as hell. 

"Denial is not just a river in Egypt," El said with deep self hatred before closing the laptop. 

+

"Someone tried to kill Han," Jay said, walking through the doors of the garage. He looked windblown, like he'd just come in from the cold. 

El's treacherous heart skipped a step, she felt sick and worried. 

"What?" she kept her eyes on the engine, didn't lift her head and thought seriously about going to drown herself in the lake down the road. What was wrong with her?

"No, I mean he's fine now- but before," Jay hopped up on a stool, watching her with dark, hooded eyes. He was wearing an unfamiliar leather jacket, a scarf woven around his neck and two day scruff on his face. "There'd been an attempt on his life, two years ago."

El almost let herself sigh in relief, before she remembered just who it was they were talking about and then promptly wanted to die of shame. 

"Oh?" god, she hoped she sounded disinterested. 

"Yeah," Jay said thoughtfully and leaned forward to where her beer stood, before he promptly drank the rest of the bottle. Sometimes, El thought that she'd have been much saner and calmer had she been born an only child. 

There was silence before El finally broke it, tense and hating herself for it. 

"And?" 

"A girl," Jay said and somehow it sounded like he was smiling, "she got close to him, he thought he loved her and she ended up knifing him. He needed forty seven stitches."

El thought about that thin line of a scar running up Han's temple. That brief tilt of his head, almost tender as he'd tilted his head exposing the long, vulnerable line of throat. 

"Oh," El said again and marveled at how steady her hands were.

 

+

 

A week later, El opened the paper during breakfast and started choking on her toast. Every page was covered with the words- 'I still have your shoe. I'll trade you for a chance at a do-over.'

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Yuletide my dear who_la_hoop. I loved your description of the prompts and I wanted to do as much justice to these beautiful assholes as I could, and then it happened- I fell in love with the characters while writing a criminal underworld au. All I really want to do is write more of them, write about them being douchey to one another, sending stalkery notes into the world and El staying deeply, firmly in denial about the depths that Han's willing to go to in order to meet the girl who'd gone head to head with him.
> 
> Hope this didn't dissapoint you too much, but if you'd like- I would love to explore more of this AU.


End file.
